Creation

Development — Blogmaster 3025 — Nov 1, 10:36 AM

Some time ago, we mentioned that Mercenaries 3025 would be a game centered around the idea of Web 2.0. While those words seem to make money all on their own (according to our analysts), they remain vague or—let’s face it—downright stupid without at least some basic information about what Web 2.0 means for us generally and Mercenaries 3025 in particular. What you need is an explanation. What you need is a blog entry explaining to you why getting excited about communities is still okay. Here is that article.

Talking about the bright new future in browser-based gaming often results in people giving lists of colorful acronyms. While we might have been guilty of that in the past, today we will try not to be and instead focus on concepts that you will actually care about. In creating Mercenaries 3025 we had the idea of a living game world that doesn’t just give players things to do but also encourages them to become part of it. Of course, players always have ways to interact with their game environments. They get missions, talk to NPCs, trade goods, etc. In online gaming, they can typically also interact with other players, sometimes with words, sometimes with a small armada of star destroyers. What interests us most however, is players altering the world itself. The BattleTech universe is vast, entailing lots of planets, houses, clans—each with their unique history—Mechs, Corporations, etc. So while we have already collected countless bits of information and specifications, we might never be able to get all the facts together. Not alone, anyway.

The only thing more vast the BattleTech universe is its community and that’s where user-generated content comes in. Suppose there are some obscure borderworld planets that still don’t have their histories explained in the game. You however, have just finished reading an epic novel about those very planets. Why shouldn’t you be able to add your knowledge to the game? Well, Mercenaries 3025 will certainly let you do that. It will also give you the opportunity to add descriptions for weaponry, spare parts, mechs or people. If you want more of a challenge, why not try to create a new mission – or even an entire campaign? Or you could translate parts of the game into another language. Apart from the simple gratification of having just enriched everyone else’s gaming experience, players will also gain reputation—very much like their various units—for contributing to the game and will be ranked for their various input. Mercenaries 3025 will not just be about blowing stuff up and other players will never be only a cheap way to gather credits.

In the end, AJAX, Flash or RSS are all nice technologies. But they are only a means to give players a game that they can help expand and improve. That is why Web 2.0 is more to us than a quick way to get attention—and eventually get bought by Yahoo—it’s an opportunity to combine all that we’ve talked about and create a game that is genuinely fun to play and be a part of. It’s why we actually care about this game and why you should stay tuned for more information in the next weeks.

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